


Kids

by Wahmenitu



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Awkward Vincent, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-01
Updated: 2013-02-01
Packaged: 2017-11-27 18:13:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/664974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wahmenitu/pseuds/Wahmenitu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Only warning I can think of is for language.  Little bit graphic.  Vincent doesn't know how to deal with kids, but he tries.  (Set during Advent Children.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kids

"Tifa is all right." Cloud's voice is his usual murmur, Vincent observes, the blonde calm once more upon seeing at least one of his kids safe.

"I wanna talk to her!" Marlene demanded.  How could he blame her?  Tifa was like a mother to her, the one who was always there, a constant in her life when she had a father constantly drilling for oil, and another guardian who abandoned them when he thought he had no hope.

Cloud was shifting, turning from one side to the other, a faint frown appearing on his lips the moment he realized his phone was no longer on him.  Marlene turned her wide brown eyes on him now.

Fuck.

How do you deal with children?  He can't imagine his normal attitude would be acceptable.  Yuffie often told him that he terrified children, puppies, and kittens.  Then again, Yuffie was like a child herself, so should he treat her like Yuffie?

No.  Definitely not.

"May I..." Marlene started.  Politely, he noted.  In a moment of panic, unsure of how to respond, how to speak to a young girl, he turned quickly to the side, drawing his cape away from his body so she could see that he had no phone.

"You don't have a phone?" the little girl asked in disbelief, and he dropped the edge of his cape, returning to his normal stance.  He hoped he handled that well enough...

"Vincent.  Will you bring Marlene to Tifa?  I'm gonna go to Shinra and get a few answers." Cloud asked.

"I can't do that." Vincent spoke with a slight shake of his head.  Do you not understand, Cloud?  Do you not get it?

"But I-" their former leader started, before he stopped, falling quiet.  Beside him, Marlene's brow furrowed, and she stared at the ground at Vincent's feet for a moment, before stepping away abruptly.

"Forget it, Cloud!" she snapped, "Why don't you ever pay any attention to us?!"  And then she was turning, and running towards him.

Fuck.

What was he supposed to do now?  What did she want?  Vaguely, he could guess that she wanted away from Cloud, but she certainly wasn't going to run off into the forest by herself.  Maybe she wanted to hide?  But where?  There was nowhere for her to go, and he remembered that often when something upset him when he was child, he sought the comfort of another person.

Oh.

Oh shit.

His hand went reflexively to the edge of his tattered cape, and finally, he thought of a solution.  Yuffie's cats liked to hide in his cloak when it was storming, and she always made fun of him for having to wash it afterwards.  Maybe Marlene would like it, too?

The little girl flung herself into his side, and he drew the edge of his cloak around her, shielding her from view.  From the way she stepped closer, and laid her forehead against the holster of his gun, he guessed he had done the right thing.

Thank Leviathan.


End file.
